[ BUSINESS BRIEFS ]

The average national debt shouldered by each citizen in Taiwan rose to NT$217,000 (US$7,464) last month, due to an increase in the country’s short-term debt, the Ministry of Finance said on Friday.

Short-term debt rose by NT$35 billion monthly to NT$185 billion last month, which led to an NT$1,000 increase in each individual’s load, the ministry said.

Government expenses usually rise toward the end of the year, bringing a rise in short-term debt, according to the ministry’s National Treasury Agency, which expected further rises before the Lunar New Year in early February.

Nevertheless, long-term debt stood at NT$4.87 trillion as of last month, unchanged from October, the ministry said.

Companies’ lucrative Japan trip

A delegation of Taiwanese photovoltaic makers participating in the PVJapan 2012 show in Chiba City, Japan, last week, returned with NT$3 billion of orders, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

Eversol Corp (旭晶), which specializes in manufacturing multi-crystalline silicon wafers, on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding with West Holdings Corp, a leading Japanese photovoltaic cell maker, to jointly set up a 50-megawatt solar power plant in Japan.

The new power plant is scheduled to be completed by the end of next year, according to Eversol. The move is expected to help the firm penetrate the Japanese market.

Eversol formed a business alliance with West Holdings late last year to establish a joint venture, E-Solar Co, and build a solar module factory in which it has invested heavily in Matsuyama City, in Japan’s Eihime Prefecture.

Chimei Innolux Corp (奇美電子), Taiwan’s largest flat-panel supplier, said on Friday it expects to complete a plan to raise funds through a global depositary receipt (GDR) sale ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.

The Lunar New Year holiday for the Year of the Snake will run from Feb. 9 to Feb. 17.

Chimei Innolux said it has revised the fundraising project by lowering the amount of new shares to be issued for the GDR sale to a range between 900 million shares and 1.13 billion shares from a previous range of between 1.3 billion shares and 1.63 billion shares.

Earlier this year, Chimei Innolux raised NT$5.4 billion from a rights issue in which the company sold new shares to existing shareholders.

The amount raised in the rights issue is part of the NT$20 billion capital increase required by its bank creditors to strengthen its financial structure.

The remaining NT$14.6 billion will be raised through the upcoming GDR sale.

Kaohsiung property sales rise

Transactions in residential and commercial property in Greater Kaohsiung rose 7 percent last month from a month earlier, indicating the property market in the area was growing steadily, Sinyi Realty Inc (信義房屋) said on Saturday.

Last month, housing transactions in Greater Kaohsiung totaled 3,696 units, up from 3,454 units recorded in October, when property sales rose 28 percent from September.